Pope and Trudeau both talk about 'open borders,' but are pragmatists at heart

National Post, 21 September 2017

Both the Pope and Trudeau present themselves as pro-immigrant. Yet both know public support for migrants drops off if they're not successfully integrated

From the first months of his pontificate, Pope Francis has championed openness to migrants and refugees, advocating a generous provision for same and castigating those countries that close their borders. Yet a new word was given papal emphasis recently—“integration”—that echoes the recent moves of the Canadian government to limit those coming to Canada to seek asylum.

On the return flight last week from his visit to Colombia, Pope Francis took questions from journalists aboard the plane, and was asked about President Donald Trump’s decision on the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, which suspended deportation of illegal immigrants who came to the United States as children. As was expected, he was critical of the Trump administration’s decision to end the program. But then he added, thinking of the situation in Europe, something more.

“A government must handle this with the virtue proper to a leader, and this means prudence,” Francis said. “What does this mean? First, how many places do I have? Second, not only to receive them, but to integrate them?”